U.S. Governmental Advisory Committee

Independent Federal Advisors

on the North American

Agreement on Environmental Cooperation

Chair

Octaviana V. Trujillo

Tel. 928-523-8788

Octaviana.Trujillo@nau.edu

Designated Federal Officer

Oscar Carrillo

Tel. 202-564--2294

carrillo.oscar@epa.gov

December 12, 2012

Committee 

Members 

Octaviana V Trujillo

Chair

Pascua Yaqui Tribe

John Bernal

Arizona

Ginny Broadhurst

Washington

Salud Carbajal

California

Kirk Cook

Washington

Katherine Gajewski

Pennsylvania

Teri Goodmann

Iowa

Carlos Rubinstein

Texas

Dale Medearis

Virginia

Edna Mendoza

Arizona

Alejandro Rodarte

California

Carlos Rubinstein

Texas

Cristina Viesca

Texas

Roger Vintze

California

Gerald Wagner

Blackfeet Tribe

The Honorable Lisa P. Jackson

Administrator

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20460

Dear Administrator Jackson: 

The Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) to the U.S. Representative to the North 

American Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) met on October 25-26, 2012 in 

Washington, D.C. It is my pleasure to submit to you the following report from our meeting. The 

report includes advice on the two major topics: 1) potential CEC projects to include in the CEC’s 

2013 Operational Plan, and 2) opportunities in the new CEC Communication Strategy.

The meeting began with an update of U.S. priorities and the status of the draft CEC 

Operational Plan by Michael Stahl, Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator for International and 

Tribal Affairs (OITA). We also received an update on the CEC’s Operational Plan and 

Communication Strategy by Sylvia Correa, Senior Advisor for North America in OITA. 

We also heard reports from JPAC member Jon Waterhouse on the results of the JPAC session 

at the CEC Council Session in New Orleans. The CEC Executive Director Evan Lloyd, also 

provided a presentation on the status of the CEC’s Article 13th report on Spent Lead Acid Batteries 

and on the CEC’s Trade and Environment report. 

The GAC is grateful for the presence of these individuals at our meeting. The information and 

insight they bring to our deliberations is appreciated by the committee and we believe that the 

value of the advice we offer is significantly enhanced by their participation. 

 The October meeting marked the first for members starting new terms on the committee. Our 

six new members participated fully in all discussions and actively contributed to the advice offered 

here. The returning members of the GAC welcome Ginny Broadhurst from the State of 

Washington, Katherine Gajewski from Pennsylvania, Dale Medearis from Virginia, Edna 

Mendoza from Arizona, Alejandro Rodarte from California and Cristina Viesca-Santos from 

Texas. We also wish to note our appreciation for the service of the two members whose terms 

expired; Jeffrey Wennberg, outgoing Chair from Vermont, Carola Serrato, from Texas.

We would also like to thank Michelle DePass for her June 20, 2012 letter responding to our 

advice letter of May 16, 2012. As always, we sincerely appreciate the participation from EPA's 

Office of International and Tribal Affairs and the Office of Federal Advisory Committee
2

Management. In addition to Michael Stahl and Sylvia Correa who were mentioned earlier, Jane 

Nishida, Director of the Office of Regional and Bilateral Affairs, in OITA attended and 

contributed, as did Cynthia Jones-Jackson, Mark Joyce, and Oscar Carrillo from OFACMO. And of 

course, we are grateful for the excellent administrative support we have received from staff at 

OFACMO, particularly Stephanie McCoy and Gloria Allen. 

 In conclusion, we thank you for EPA's continued support of our role in the enhancement of 

environmental conditions throughout North America and we hope you find our advice helpful. 

Sincerely,

 

Dr. Octaviana V. Trujillo, Chair 

Governmental Advisory Committee

cc: Michelle DePass, Assistant Administrator, Office of International and Tribal Affairs

Michael Stahl, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of International and Tribal Affairs

Cynthia Jones-Jackson, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Management and Outreach

Oscar Carrillo, Designated Federal Officer

Brian L. Houseal, Chair, U.S. National Advisory Committee

Irasema Coronado, Executive Director, Commission on Environmental Cooperation

Martin Gutierrez Lacayo, Chair, Joint Public Advisory Committee

Members of the U.S. National Advisory Committee

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Administrative support for the GAC is provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 

Office of Federal Advisory Committee Management and Outreach

Mail Code 1601-M, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Washington, D.C. 20460 

(t) 202-564-2294(f) 202-564-8129
Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

to the U.S. Representative to the 

Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)

Advice 2012-3: CEC Operational Plan

The charge questions for this meeting asked the GAC to provide advice on strategic projects for 

the new operational plan that would address issues related to greening the economy on the topics 

of: electronic waste, advancing on trilateral clean energy initiatives and other specific economic 

integrated sectors in North America.

The GAC provided the preliminary outline advice in October for the CEC Operational Plan. 

However, we would like to elaborate on the details of a new project called the “assessment of 

environmental impacts of solid waste practices in rural and indigenous communities.” We think 

this project addresses the three CEC priority areas of greening the economy, climate change, and 

healthy communities’ healthy ecosystems. 

The management of solid waste in North America has, over the past several decades, been the 

source of numerous environmental incidents that have had profound impacts on segments of the 

general public. In recognition of this fact, NAFTA partners have made significant progress in 

enhancing regulatory and design requirements for solid waste facilities to reduce or eliminate 

their negative impacts to the environment and human health. However, the implementation of 

these actions is not uniform across communities. Because of the expense and availability of 

technical expertise, the progress made to address the environmental and human health impacts of 

solid waste management and disposal have been disproportionately directed to centers of high 

populations or areas with significant financial resources. The result has been a “neglect” of 

progress in solid waste management practices and facilities in disadvantaged areas, mainly those 

in rural and indigenous communities.

This disparity appears to have hampered efforts to improve air, land, and water quality in many 

rural and indigenous communities. In some cases this has opened the door for cheap disposal of 

hazardous materials by industry and others in outdated or inadequate facilities existing within 

these communities. These actions do open issues related to environmental justice within the 

borders of the three NAFTA partners.

In order to assess the prevalence and magnitude of issues surrounding inadequate management 

and disposal of solid waste in “at risk” communities, the GAC proposes a new potential project 

that would focus on improving the environment and human health within rural and indigenous 

communities. This project would initially focus on three critical elements:

 Conducting an inventory of current solid waste management practices in three to five 

pilot areas within the boundaries of the NAFTA partners

 Identifying the gaps and barriers to adequate solid waste management practices in the 

pilot communities

 Identify tools, resources and best management practices for implementation of 

improved solid waste management and enhanced environmental protection.

Successful implementation and completion of the project will provide the NAFTA partners a 

path forward to address conditions that degrade the living conditions of some of their citizens, 

potentially address inappropriate trade advantages (due to costs savings from improper disposal 
4

of industrial waste streams), and potentially create financial benefits to disadvantaged 

communities through implementation of innovative recycling and waste stream segregation 

opportunities.

RECOMMENDATION:

General:

That all CEC projects incorporate performance measures and outcomes

Serious consideration to scaling back the number of projects, as to make them more 

strategic and focused

Moving North American Grasslands project to the climate change pillar

Potential “sun-setting” of the automotive supply project, due to its success; can be used 

as a model for best practices

New potential project: “Assessment of environmental impacts of solid waste practices in rural 

and indigenous communities”

Overall Framework for this project would include:

Inventory of current solid waste management practices

Identify gaps and barriers to adequate solid waste management practices

Identify tools and best practices
5

Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC)

to the U.S. Representative to the

Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC)

Advice 2012-4: Communications Strategy and Other Matters

The charge questions of the October 2012 meeting asked the GAC to provide advice on 

identifying specific opportunities for the committees to implement the new communication 

strategy, i.e., via outreach in venues within their represented sectors (state, local, and tribal 

governments). 

The GAC had a robust discussion on this issue and decided that one of the best ways to provide 

information to the public on current CEC activities would be to develop a quarterly e-newsletter 

with a “news” section on the Council, JPAC, NAC and GAC, and any other relevant groups and 

a calendar section with dates of meetings. It would be important to highlight successes or 

accomplishments, and relevant web links so members of the public have the ability to get more 

detailed information. 

The GAC also identified and recommended several organizations where GAC members can be 

megaphones to distribute information on the CEC’s work. The GAC envisions attending the 

annual meetings of these organizations and being megaphones for the work of the CEC. This 

can happen by making formal presentations or distributing printed materials. In order to deliver 

a succinct message, the GAC requested receiving generic CEC presentations from the CEC 

Secretariat. The groups identified by the local government representatives of the GAC are the: 

National Association of Counties, National League of Cities, American Solid Waste Association, 

U.S. Conference of Mayors, and the National Association of Urban Planners. GAC State 

government representatives identified the following organizations: Environmental Council of the

States, National Governors Association, Border Governors Conference, Western Governors 

Association, Western States Water Council, Conference of New England Governors and Eastern 

Canadian Premiers. Tribal GAC representatives identified the following organizations to reach

out on CEC matters: National Congress of American Indians, National Environmental Justice 

Advisory Committee, Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples, and the Institute for Tribal 

Environmental Professionals. 

RECOMMENDATION:

Develop an e-newsletter with a “news” section on Council, JPAC, NAC and GAC, and any other 

relevant groups; plus a calendar section, and highlights on successes or accomplishments, and 

relevant web links.

Below are potential national venues where the GAC could be a megaphone:

in local, State and Tribal government conferences.

Local State Tribal

National Association of Counties Environmental Council of the States National Congress of American 

Indians 

National League of Cities National Governors Association NEJAC Subcommittee on 

Indigenous People’s 

American Solid Waste Association Border Governors Conference Institute for Tribal Environmental 

Professionals 

U.S. Conference of Mayors Western Governors Association

National Assoc. of Urban Planners Western States Water Council

Conference of US/Canada Premiers